Understanding Motives for Migration in Working with Immigrant Families

There are good reasons to expect immigrant families' experiences in the host society to differ vastly. What impact might rationales for relocation have on immigrant families' pre-migration and post-migration characteristics in mainstream America? This article reviews existing research by drawing on various migration theories and explores the potential linkage between forces that propelled the move and immigrant families' adaptation patterns that followed. Three non-mutually exclusive principal motives were proposed to explain the substantial differences that exist among immigrants. Also considered are theoretical explanations that would facilitate effective practice and intervention among social work practitioners and policy planners.